The Booger Tree

Day 153: I'll readily admit that I am a poor mycologist. It's taken me the better part of two years to identify the life form which gives the Booger Tree its name. When I first discovered it in the spring of 2015, it was as fresh and plump as you see it here, but by the end of summer, it had withered to a flaky crust, thin as paper and fragile to the touch. When the autumn rains arrived, it rejuvenated and I watched it go through the same cycle again through 2016. In the interim, I took a sample and put it under the microscope. It wasn't the most successful operation, but it did allow me to see the asci, and today, I finally found information confirming what I had observed through the 'scope. That said, this is one time I will dispense with scientific nomenclature in favour of a common term: the Booger Tree will remain the Booger Tree for as long as it and I are standing. (If you're really curious, the scientific name is in the labels.)

Pseudohydnum Gelatinosum

Day 46: Although superficially rather nondescript, Pseudohydnum gelatinosum reveals a surprise when viewed from the bottomside. As the first part of its Latin name suggests, it resembles the family of Hydnums in that it exhibits "teeth" (inset) instead of pores or gills. The second half of its name is even more descriptive; its small size and granular, translucent surface looks and feels like a gumdrop. It is common (inedible) and unmistakable. No other jelly fungus has "teeth."

My readers may have noticed a rise in the number of fungus photos I've posted recently. There are two reasons for that. The first is that wildflower season is past. The second is that in an effort to broaden my knowledge of mycoheterotrophs, I am making visits to areas where certain species occur, documenting which fungi are associated with them, i.e., employing good old-fashioned field science and the power of observation. A simpler but much less affordable solution would be to take a section of the species in question and run it through DNA analysis or put it under an electron microscope, but that wouldn't be nearly as much fun!